Rhythm reboot

There is no doubt you can find rhythm by swinging at three-quarters of your maximum effort - as discussed in my previous blog. The problem is how do you identify or quantify three-quarters if you don't know what one hundred percent effort feels like. Three-quarters of what?

The reality is it's impossible to think about a number or a percentage of something when that something is an elusive and moveable entity - think cold mornings versus warm afternoons, bad backs versus feeling flexible, or just good confidence days and bad confidence days.

My conclusion is that you simply find your rhythm by 'swinging within yourself', which you could also call 'swinging in balance'. This will vary from person to person and from day to day. The arbitrary three-quarters might actually be close to correct, but it's not needed.

I've also had to modify (read abandon) my 'grip down' on driver hypothesis because when you grip down on a club you alter the swing weight or balance of the club. This is not optimal. Far better is to use a club that is properly fitted at a shorter length - eg. a driver that is 43 inches long rather than 46 inches.

I'm not a big fan of buying a game via fancy equipment, but there is something to be said for using equipment that suits your size, strength, age, etc. Gripping down on clubs is for specialty shots - extreme slopes and so forth - not for general golfing.

I want to reiterate that it is also important to own your own swing - unless you want to put in thousands of hours changing it. I've accepted that I'm a fader, not a slicer, because my set up fundamentals are sound. I also hit a lot of dead straight shots, so why would I want to tinker with my swing?

The main thing is to find a swing that works and then work on finding a good rhythm for that swing.

How to find rhythm

In my previous post, I talked about accepting the swing you have - provided you have the fundamentals relatively sorted. I'm sure that's the way to go.

The message is 'Don't keep messing with your swing' (as I did for years) because unless you put in very long hours, improvement will be minimal at best and there's a real risk of a backward slide.

I said that the objective in golf is not to swing with perfection or style, but actually to put in a good score. Scoring is the measure of your golf, not the beauty of your swing. Not that a great looking swing is a bad thing.

I also mentioned that rhythm is crucial. And something one of my playing partners said the other day reminded me of an excellent way to find that elusive rhythm. It's very simple.

When playing full shots, with woods or irons, even short irons, never swing flat out - never. The goal is to swing thinking three-quarters - three-quarter swings.

Just thinking this way will help us to find our rhythm. It will also help us find the middle of the club face much more often, which maximises distance for the club chosen. You only have to choose the correct club. If necessary take an extra club when you feel you might struggle with the distance.

With driver, the hardest club to hit straight, I also grip down almost to the metal, which feels almost like swinging at three-quarters, and the results are good. The loss of distance is minimal; and I hit many more fairways. By the way, forcing fairway woods is always a bad idea.

Many pro golfers use this approach - and rarely if ever swing full out. They look smooth - so can we - we just have to use the good old rhythmic three-quarter swing.